by Jule Kucera | Jan 12, 2025 | Blog
As dementia steals from my mother, it leaves gifts. She’s no longer pretending to be what she thinks she’s supposed to be. She’s just being. My mom loves jigsaw puzzles. If you were to visit, if she liked you, she would raise her eyebrows and ask, “Would you like to...
by Jule Kucera | Jan 5, 2025 | Blog
My orchid is at it again. Not the one that dropped its petals last time, the other one. I was sitting in my big chair (where I’m sitting now) when I noticed wrinkly petals on the smaller orchid’s only stalk. I bent toward the plant and saw bright green new bud tips...
by Jule Kucera | Dec 15, 2024 | Blog
Seeing how ‘TROULE’ de-fanged ‘TROUBLE,’ I’m experimenting with another word. I believe I have SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder, because when the sun becomes rare and the days get cold, I feel chilly and watery. Sure I have one of those...
by Jule Kucera | Dec 8, 2024 | Blog
I must not be ready to stop thinking about Toronto and the Eras Tour. There are memories in my mind and on my wrist. One of my favorite friendship bracelets has a typo: “TROULE.” Yes, it should be “TROUBLE.” But maybe not. Without the...
by Jule Kucera | Dec 1, 2024 | Blog
I wish I hadn’t grown up in a house where, as my mother said a couple of years ago, “I guess you kids were just scared all the time.” But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have the empathy I have. I wish I hadn’t married my first husband (who treated me the way my father...
by Jule Kucera | Nov 24, 2024 | Blog
On the express train from the Toronto airport to Union Station, I sat with Swifties. More accurately, I said “Are you going to the Eras Tour” to the woman in the seat in front of me. She had long dark blond hair and wore a “NOT A LOT GOING ON AT THE MOMENT” t-shirt,...
